New navy chief wants better surveillance

Indian Navy's new chief, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, on Tuesday spelt out his priorities, saying the thrust areas in days to come would be better surveillance capability, greater longevity and safety of ships and improving communication.

"We are certainly going to look into improving our surveillance capability and we want our Navy to operate in waters far away from home," said Mehta after taking over charge from outgoing chief, Admiral Arun Prakash, at a ceremony on the lawns of South Block in New Delhi.

Replying to a question about the leakage of documents from the Navy's war room, Mehta termed it an unfortunate incident. He assured that corrective action had already been initiated.

"A big organisation is in place to ensure that such incidents do not recur. We are sure we won't have such problems again," he assured.

Admiral Mehta is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy. He was commissioned in the Indian Navy in 1967. He was awarded the Ati Vishist Seva Medal in 1995 and the Param Vishist Seva Medal in 2005. He commanded the Western Fleet, known as the 'sword arm' of the Indian Navy, during the India-Pakistan military standoff in 2001-02.